Image providing apparatus and image providing system

ABSTRACT

An image provision device that provides an image exhibiting a distinctive feature of a locality to an address. On receipt from a mobile telephone ( 1   a ) of a position information mail ( 21 ) storing position information of the mobile telephone ( 1   a ), the image provision device transmits to the mobile telephone ( 1   a ) a reply mail ( 39 ) storing thumbnail images created based on the position information in the position information mail ( 21 ). Then, on receipt from the mobile telephone ( 1   a ) of an image select mail ( 22 ) storing a selection resulting from one thumbnail image from the thumbnail images being selected, the image provision device transmits to the address an image mail ( 40 ) storing an image based on the selection result in the image select mail ( 22 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates principally to an image provision deviceand an image provision system that are applicable in electronic mailtransmission from a mobile terminal.

BACKGROUND ART

Nowadays mobile telephones often have an electronic mail function, andare able to transmit/receive electronic mail (hereinafter, simply“mail”) using key operations and so forth. Due to the portability andconvenience of mobile telephones, many users take their mobile telephonewith them when they go out for the day or on holiday. As such, users caneasily send mails to friends from holiday destinations, for instance.

However, with conventional mails, the user's mails consist of textmessages, even when sent from holiday destinations, and images thatallow the locality of transmission (scenic spot, tourist resort, etc.)to be identified are not appended.

In spite of this, there are users who would like to send images tofriends exhibiting distinctive features of localities, as is the casewith postcards. While it is possible, for example, to send images tofriends if the user stores many images on their mobile telephone, thisis not desirable since mobility is adversely affected by increases inthe mobile telephone's memory volume.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to provide an image provision device and animage provision system that provide images exhibiting distinctivefeatures of a locality to friends, for example, without requiring mobileterminals to hold a large number of images.

An image provision device of the present invention that achieves theabove object includes: a reception unit operable to receive from amobile terminal an address to which an image is to be provided; aposition-information acquiring unit operable to acquire positioninformation relating to a locality; an image specifying unit operable tospecify, based on the position information, a plurality of imagesrelating to the position information; a transmitting unit operable totransmit information relating to the specified plurality of images tothe mobile terminal; a receiving unit operable to receive, from themobile terminal, information relating to one of the images selected fromthe transmitted information; and an image providing unit operable toprovide the image to which the received information relates to theaddress.

According to this structure, an image relating to position informationcan be specified and provided to an address. As a result, it is possibleto provide an image exhibiting a distinctive feature of a position to anaddress, without requiring a mobile terminal to hold the image.Furthermore, an image can be selected on the mobile terminal side, andan image favored by the mobile terminal user provided to an address.Moreover, specification of an image is conducted by, for example,reading a stored image, newly creating an image, working on an existingimage, or the like. Also, the provision of an image to an address refersnot only to transmitting an image to an address, but also to enabling aperson or entity at an address to acquire the image, such as, forexample, enabling access via the Internet or the like to an image storedon a specific storage medium.

Here, the position information may show a position of the mobileterminal. According to this structure, an image relating to the positionof a mobile terminal can be specified.

Furthermore, the position-information acquiring unit may acquire, fromthe mobile terminal, position information obtained by a globalpositioning system. According to this structure, theposition-information acquiring unit is able to easily obtain datarelating to position information.

Moreover, the image specifying unit may have a storage subunit thatprestores images in correspondence with positional areas that each showa predetermined range, and the specified image may be an imagecorresponding to a positional area that includes the locality to whichthe position information relates. According to this structure, it ispossible to promptly specify an image corresponding to a positionalarea.

Furthermore, the image providing unit may transmit the image to theaddress. According to this structure, an image from a mobile terminalcan be reliably provided to an address.

Moreover, the image provision device may include a mail receiving unitoperable to receive an electronic mail transmitted from the mobileterminal, and the image providing unit may attach the specified image tothe received electronic mail and distribute the image-attachedelectronic mail to the address. By using mail in this way, images andvarious kinds of information can be easily transmitted/received. Here,“distribution” is a superordinate concept that includes the relaying ofmail to a relay device such as another mail server or the like, and alsothe delivering of mail from an image provision device to an address.

On the other hand, an image provision system of the present inventionthat achieves the above object includes a mobile terminal and an imageprovision device, the mobile terminal having a first transmitting unitoperable to transmit an address to which an image is to be provided, andthe image provision device having: a reception unit operable to receivethe address transmitted from the mobile terminal; a position-informationacquiring unit operable to acquire position information relating to alocality; an image specifying unit operable to specify, based on theposition information, a plurality of images relating to the positioninformation; and a transmitting unit operable to transmit informationrelating to the specified plurality of images to the mobile terminal.The mobile terminal further has: a receiving unit operable to receivethe information relating to the plurality of images from the imageprovision device; a reception unit operable to receive from a user,information relating to one of the images selected by the user from theinformation received by the receiving unit; and a second transmittingunit operable to transmit the information received from the user to theimage provision device, and the image provision device further has: areceiving unit operable to receive the information transmitted from themobile terminal; and an image providing unit operable to provide theimage to which the received information relates to the address.According to this structure, an image relating to position informationcan be specified and provided to an address. Moreover, an image can beselected on the mobile terminal side, and an image favored by the mobileterminal user provided to an address.

Here, the position information may show a position of the mobileterminal, and the mobile terminal may have: a position-informationacquiring unit operable to acquire the position from a globalpositioning system; and a third transmitting unit operable to transmitthe position information to the image provision device. According tothis structure, the position of a mobile terminal can be easily obtainedfrom a global positioning system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram showing an overall structure that includesan image provision system in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a sequence between mobile telephones and an image provisiondevice in the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram shows a structure of a mobile telephone in theembodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a structure of an image provision device in the embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a mapping table in the embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a format of a position information mail in the embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a format of a reply mail in the embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a format of an image select mail in the embodiment;

FIG. 9A shows a format of an image mail when a message is incorporated;

FIG. 9B shows a format of an image mail when a message is notincorporated;

FIG. 10A shows an image mail when a message is incorporated;

FIG. 10B shows an image mail when a message is not incorporated;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of mobile telephone mail creation in theembodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of mobile telephone mail creation in theembodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of controls performed by a control unit of theimage provision device in the embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An image provision system pertaining to an embodiment of the presentinvention is described below with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Structure of Image Provision System

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall structure that includesthe image provision system. The image provision system includes a mobiletelephone 1 a that transmits a mail, and an image provision device 2that receives the transmitted mail, via a base station 3 in a zone inwhich mobile telephone 1 a is located and a communications network 4.

Image provision device 2 is for acquiring from a received mail, positioninformation showing a position of mobile telephone 1 a, and fortransmitting to a mobile telephone 1 b, a mail storing an imagespecified based on the acquired position information (hereinafter,simply “image mail”). Because of this, image provision device 2 isprovided in a transmission server or the like, for example, thatreliably relays mail transmitted from mobile telephone 1 a.

FIG. 2 shows a sequence between mobile telephone 1 a and image provisiondevice 2 when an image mail is created. The sequence between mobiletelephone 1 a and image provision device 2 will now be described broadlyusing FIG. 2. First, mobile telephone 1 a transmits a mail 21 storingposition information of mobile telephone 1 a (hereinafter, simply“position information mail”) to image provision device 2.

Image provision device 2, having received this mail, reads a pluralityof images corresponding to the position information from an imagestorage unit, and creates so-called thumbnail images, which are reducedversions of the read images. The images and the thumbnail images arecorresponded to each other by image IDs, and image provision device 2transmits a mail 39 storing the thumbnail images and the image IDs(hereinafter, simply “reply mail”) to mobile telephone 1 a.

Mobile telephone 1 a receives an operation from a user selecting onethumbnail image from the plurality of received thumbnail images. Then,mobile telephone 1 a transmits a mail 22 storing the image ID of theselected thumbnail image (hereinafter, simply “image select mail”) toimage provision device 2. On receipt of this mail, image provisiondevice 2 transmits a mail 40 storing an image corresponding to the imageID to mobile telephone 1 b.

Here, an image corresponding to a position is an image of a touristspot, a scenic spot, a building, a theme park, a local product, a personor the like, that is prestored in correspondence with the position, andhas some sort of relationship with that position (locality). Moreover,image provision device 2 is also connected to a reception server via theInternet, and is able to acquire image mail 40 from personal computers6.

(2) Mobile Telephone Structure

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a structure of mobile telephone 1 a.Mobile telephone 1 a has a telephone function and a mail function thesame as the prior art. Description here relates mainly to the structurepertaining to image mail 40.

Mobile telephone 1 a, as shown in FIG. 3, includes a wireless unit 11,an operation unit 12, a display unit 13, a storage unit 14, a GPSantenna unit 15, a position-information-mail creation unit 16, animage-select-mail creation unit 17, and a control unit 18.

Wireless unit 11 transmits/receives call signals, ring signals and thelike, in addition to transmitting/receiving reply mail 39 and other mailvia an antenna 19. Display unit 13 includes, for example, a liquidcrystal display unit, and displays guidance for guiding user operationswhen various functions are executed, in addition to displaying receivedthumbnail images, mail content, messages under construction, and thelike.

Operation unit 12 is where a user conducts various input operationsrelating to image mail 40, with respect to mobile telephone 1 a. Inorder to conduct these input operations, operation unit 12 includes, inaddition to a YES key signifying a “YES” input and a NO key signifying a“NO” input in accordance with guidance, for example, operation keys suchas numeric keys for numeric inputs, a scroll key for scrolling thedisplay content of display unit 13 up/down, function keys forselecting/executing/canceling the various functions, and so forth.

Here, input operations conducted by the user are operations indicatingmail creation and the like, and specifically include an operationdepressing the YES key or the NO key in accordance with guidance ondisplay unit 13, an operation depressing the scroll key to scrollthumbnail images on display unit 13, and so forth.

Storage unit 14 is constituted by a RAM and the like, and besidesstoring various kinds of mail such as reply mail 39 and so forth, storesnames of addresses, telephone numbers, mail addresses and so forth. GPSantenna unit 15 acquires the position information of mobile telephone 1a, and specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, acquires the latitude andlongitude of the position of mobile telephone 1 a from a globalpositioning system (GPS) that uses a satellite 20.

Position-information-mail creation unit 16 creates position informationmail 21 (see FIG. 6) for transmitting the position information of mobiletelephone 1 a to image provision device 2. In position information mail21, position information acquired by GPS antenna unit 15 is attached toa mail body. Position information mail 21 is described later.

Image-select-mail creation unit 17 creates image select mail 22 (seeFIG. 8) for transmitting the result of one thumbnail image from out ofthe plurality of thumbnail images transmitted from image provisiondevice 2 being selected by the user. Image select mail 22 is describedlater.

Here, the result of a user selection is an image ID corresponding to athumbnail image selected by a user depressing an operation key, and isattached to a mail body. Moreover, in image select mail 22, as describedlater, is stored incorporation information instructing image provisiondevice 2 whether or not to incorporate a message of text or the like inan image in image mail 40.

Control unit 18, on receipt from the user of an operation to createimage mail 40, has GPS antenna unit 15 acquire position information andinstructs position-information-mail creation unit 16 to create positioninformation mail 21, and on receipt from the user of an operationselecting one out of the thumbnail images received from image provisiondevice 2, instructs image-select-mail creation unit 17 to create imageselect mail 22.

Control unit 18 is structured from a microcomputer, and apart fromconducting the above controls, conducts telephoning controls and mailtransmission/reception controls in the same way as conventional mobiletelephone 1 a, as a result of the microprocessor executing a programstored in an internal ROM.

(3) Image Provision Device Structure

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a structure of image provision device2. Image provision device 2 includes a position-information acquisitionunit 30, a candidate-image specification unit 31, a thumbnail-imagecreation unit 32, a reply-mail creation unit 33, an image-mail creationunit 34, a transmit/receive unit 35, and a control unit 36.

Position-information acquisition unit 30 is for acquiring positioninformation stored in position information mail 21. Candidate-imagespecification unit 31 is for specifying images corresponding to positioninformation acquired by position-information acquisition unit 30.Specifically, unit 31 includes an image storage unit 38 storing images,and uses a mapping table 37 to correspond image IDs of the images withpositional areas that show a geographical range. When images are to bespecified, unit 31 specifies a positional area that includes theposition in the position information, and images corresponding to thespecified positional area are read from image storage unit 38 inaccordance with image IDs in mapping table 37.

Image storage unit 38 is constituted by a ROM, a hard disk and the like.Images specified by candidate-image specification unit 31 are candidatesof an image to be used in image mail 40, and are referred to below as“candidate images”.

FIG. 5 shows mapping table 37. Each positional area corresponds to data(latitude, longitude) obtained from a global positioning system, and isa roughly square range in which the two respective diagonals are, forexample, “36° ΔΔ′N, 138° ∘Δ′E” and “36°×Δ′N, 138°×∘′E” (here, “°”signifies degrees, and “′” signifies minutes). An image ID is anidentification number showing an image stored in image storage unit 38,and for illustrative purposes is, for example, shown by “snowman.ID”.Also, image IDs and image addresses are corresponded, so as to allowimages to be read from image storage unit 38 based on the image IDs.

Thumbnail-image creation unit 32 is for creating thumbnail images, whichare reduced versions of the plurality of candidate images specified bycandidate-image specification unit 31. Reply-mail creation unit 33 isfor creating reply mail 39 (see FIG. 7), in which thumbnail images andtheir image IDs are attached to a mail body. Reply mail 39 is describedlater.

Image-mail creation unit 34 is for creating image mail 40 (see FIG. 9A &9B), and acquires an image ID from image select mail 22 when mail 22 isreceived, reads an image corresponding to the image ID (hereinafter,“use-image”), and stores the read image in the mail body. Image mail 40is described later.

Image-mail creation unit 34 incorporates a message in a use-image whenincorporation information in image select mail 22 is “1”, for example,and does not incorporate a message in a use-image when the incorporationinformation is “0”. The incorporation of a message in a use-image refersto extending an image to provide an incorporation area, outside of theimage area of a use-image, for incorporating a message. Images thatincorporate messages are still referred to as use-images (see FIG. 10A).

Transmit/receive unit 35, apart from returning reply mail 39 to mobiletelephone 1 a, which transmitted position information mail 21, receivesimage select mail 22 from mobile telephone 1 a, and transmits image mail40 to mobile telephone 1 b and the like at the reception end.

Control unit 36, on receipt of position information mail 21, hasposition-information acquisition unit 30 acquire position information,has candidate-image specification unit 31 specify candidate imagescorresponding to the position information, has thumbnail-image creationunit 32 create thumbnail images of the candidate images, and instructsreply-mail creation unit 33 to create reply mail 39, and on receipt ofimage select mail 22, instructs image-mail creation unit 34 to createimage mail 40. Control unit 36 is structured from a microcomputer, andconducts the various controls such as the above instruction by themicrocomputer executing a program stored in an internal ROM.

(4) Data Structure of Mail Transmitted from Mobile Telephone/ImageProvision Device

FIG. 6 shows a data structure of position information mail 21transmitted from mobile telephone 1 a to image provision device 2, andan exemplary content of mail 21. Position information mail 21, as shownin FIG. 6, stores a transmission source address and a transmissiontarget address in a header of a mail, a mail body, and positioninformation.

The transmission source address is one's own (i.e. mobile telephone 1 a)mail address, and the transmission target address is the mail address ofthe transmission target (e.g. mobile telephone 1 b) of image mail 40.Position information is data acquired by GPS antenna unit 15, and isformed from a latitude and a longitude. Here, position information isattached to a mail body using, for example, a MIME (MultipurposeInternet Mail Extensions) format.

FIG. 7 shows a data structure of reply mail 39 transmitted by imageprovision device 2, and an exemplary content of mail 39. Reply mail 39,as shown in FIG. 7, is formed from a transmission source address, atransmission target address, and a mail body. A plurality (i.e. 3) ofthumbnail images and their image IDs are attached to the mail body usingthe MIME format.

The transmission target address is the mail address of mobile telephone1 a, and specifically is obtained by acquiring the transmission sourceaddress from position information mail 21. The transmission sourceaddress is the mail address of image provision device 2.

Thumbnail images are images created by thumbnail-image creation unit 32,and image IDs correspond these thumbnail images with images specified bycandidate-image specification unit 31.

FIG. 8 shows a data structure of image select mail 22 transmitted bymobile telephone 1 a, and an exemplary content of mail 22. Image selectmail 22 is formed from a transmission source address, a transmissiontarget address, and a mail body. An image ID and incorporationinformation are attached to the mail body using the MIME format.

The transmission source address and the transmission target address arethe same address as used in position information mail 21. The image IDcorresponds to a thumbnail image selected by the user, and is, forexample, “snowman. ID” when the selected thumbnail image is “snowman”.

Incorporation information is for instructing whether or not imageprovision device 2 is to incorporate a message in the use-image. “1” forexample shows that a message is to be incorporated in the use-image. Themail body is for storing a message when a message is to be incorporatedin the use-image. “I'm at the ski field now!”, for example, is stored.Here, the incorporation information is “0” when a message is not to beincorporated in the image.

(5) Image Mail and Related Data Structure

FIGS. 9A and 9B show a data structure of image mail 40 and an exemplarycontent of mail 40. Image mail 40 is formed from a transmission sourceaddress, a transmission target address, and a mail body. An image isstored in the mail body. Here, FIG. 9A shows when the message, “I'm atthe ski field now!”, is incorporated in the image, and FIG. 9B showswhen a message is not incorporated.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show examples of image mail 40. The image in imagemail 40 corresponds to the position of mobile telephone 1 a, whichtransmitted position information mail 21, and is the equivalent of thepicture or photograph part of a postcard. There is a ski field in thepositional area that includes the position of mobile telephone 1 a, asnowman being used as the corresponding image in FIGS. 10A and 10B.Here, FIG. 10A is the image mail corresponding to FIG. 9A, and FIG. 10Bis the image mail corresponding to FIG. 9B.

(6) Mail Creation Processing in Mobile Telephone

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are flowcharts of mail creation in control unit 18of mobile telephone 1 a. The creation of image mail 40 in FIG. 10A isdescribed below as an example.

Control unit 18, when there is a user operation selecting a mailcreation mode, receives input of an address for transmitting a mail to,namely, transmission target address “ΔΔΔ@def.yz.jp” (Step S10=YES; S11).

Specifically, the user conducts operations such as inputting fromnumeric keys and reading of a registered mail address from storage unit14. Here, received transmission target address “ΔΔΔ@def.yz.jp” and one'sown address (i.e. transmission source address) “∘∘∘@abc.xy.jp” are, asshown in FIG. 6, stored in the mail header.

When inputting of the transmission target address is completed, controlunit 18 displays a first message, for example, “create an image mail?”,on display unit 13 (step S12). Then, when there is a user operation ofthe YES key showing the creation of image mail 40, control unit 18instructs GPS antenna unit 15 to acquire present position information“36° ΔΔ′N, 138° ∘∘′E” from a global positioning system (step S13=YES;S14).

Next, control unit 18 instructs position-information-mail creation unit16 to create position information mail 21. That is,position-information-mail creation unit 16 attaches the positioninformation acquired by GPS antenna unit 15 to a mail body to createposition information mail 21 (see FIG. 6). Control unit 18 transmits thecreated position information mail 21 to image provision device 2 fromwireless unit 11 (step S15).

Reply mail 39 storing thumbnail images and related image IDs is returnedfrom image provision device 2.

Control unit 18, on receipt of reply mail 39 from wireless unit 11,displays a second message, for example, “view thumbnail images?”, ondisplay unit 13 (step S16=YES; S17).

When there is a NO key operation indicating not to view the thumbnailimages, control unit 18 returns to step S10. A NO key operation results,for example, from the user canceling image mail creation or realizingthat the transmission target address is wrong.

Conversely, when there is a YES key operation indicating to view thethumbnail images, control unit 18 reads the head thumbnail image“snowman” attached to the mail body in the received reply mail 39, anddisplays the reads thumbnail image on display unit 13 together withguidance (step S18=YES; S19).

This guidance, for example, guides/advices the user to depress a selectkey when selecting a displayed thumbnail image, or to depress a scrollkey when wanting to display a previous thumbnail image or a followingthumbnail image.

When there is a user operation depressing a scroll key in accordancewith the guidance (step S20=SCROLL KEY), control unit 18 returns to stepS19 and displays the next thumbnail image “∘×Park” in place of thecurrently displayed thumbnail image “snowman”. Here, the sequence of thethumbnail images for display is, for example, the order in which theimages are attached to reply mail 39.

On the other hand, when there is a user operation depressing the selectkey in accordance with the guidance (step S20=SELECT KEY), control unit18 instructs image-select-mail creation unit 17 to create image selectmail 22. That is, image-select-mail creation unit 17 acquires image ID“snowman.ID” of the thumbnail image “snowman” selected by the user, andattaches the image ID to the mail body. At this time, the transmissiontarget address received at step S11 and the transmission source addressare stored in the mail header.

Next, control unit 18 displays a third message, for example,“incorporate a message in the image?” on display unit 13 (step S21).Then, when there is a YES key operation in the case of incorporating amessage, control unit 18 receives a message “I'm at the ski field now!”from the user, and sets the incorporation information to “1” (stepS22=YES; S23; S24). The incorporation information is attached to themail body, in addition to the received message being stored in the mailbody by image-select-mail creation unit 17.

On the other hand, when there is a NO key operation at step S22 in thecase of not incorporating a message, image-select-mail creation unit 17sets the incorporation information to “0” and attaches it to the mailbody (step S25).

Control unit 18 transmits image select mail 22 having incorporationinformation attached thereto to image provision device 2 from wirelessunit 11 via the closest base station 3 (step S26).

Moreover, when there is a NO key operation at step S13 in the case ofnot creating image mail 40 (i.e. the mail does not include an image;hereinafter “text mail”), control unit 18 receives input of a messagefor use in the text mail from the user (step S13=NO; S27). Then, controlunit 18 stores the received message in the mail body and transmits thetext mail to image provision device 2 from wireless unit 11 (step S28).

(7) Image Provision Processing in Image Provision Device

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the processing conducted by control unit 36 ofimage provision device 2. As shown in FIG. 13, control unit 36, onreceipt by transmit/receive unit 35 of a mail, judges whether positioninformation is attached to the mail body (step S101=YES; S102).

When position information is attached to the mail body (i.e. when themail is position information mail 21), control unit 36 instructsposition-information acquisition unit 30 to acquire the positioninformation “36° ΔΔ′N, 138° ∘∘′E” (step S102=YES).

Then, control unit 36 instructs candidate-image specification unit 31 tospecify candidate images corresponding to the acquired positioninformation. That is, candidate-image specification unit 31 specifies apositional area that includes the position in the position information(step S103).

Next, candidate-image specification unit 31 acquires image IDs“snowman.ID”, “∘×park.ID” and “ΔΔartmuseum.ID” corresponding to thespecified positional area “36° Δ∘′N, 138° ∘Δ′E-36°×Δ′N, 138°×∘′E” frommapping table 37 in FIG. 7 (step S104). Then, candidate-imagespecification unit 31 reads images corresponding to these image IDs fromimage storage unit 38 to specify the candidate images.

Next, control unit 36 instructs thumbnail-image creation unit 32 tocreate thumbnail images of the candidate images. That is,thumbnail-image creation unit 32 downscales each of the candidate imagesspecified by candidate-image specification unit 31 to create thumbnailimages “snowman”, “∘×Park” and “ΔΔ Art Museum” (step S105).

Then, control unit 36 instructs reply-mail creation unit 33 to createreply mail 39. That is, reply-mail creation unit 33, in addition toattaching the created thumbnail images and related image IDs to the mailbody (see FIG. 7), acquires the transmission source address in positioninformation mail 21, stores this address in the transmission targetaddress, and stores the mail address “×××@ghi.xz.jp” of image provisiondevice 2 in the transmission source address. Then, control unit 36transmits this reply mail 39 from transmit/receive unit 35 to mobiletelephone 1 a, which was the transmission source of position informationmail 21 (step S106).

On the other hand, when position information is not attached to the mailbody of a mail received at step S102, control unit 36 judges whether animage ID is attached to the mail body (step S102=NO; S110). When animage ID is attached (i.e. when the mail is image select mail 22),control unit 36 instructs image-mail creation unit 34 to create imagemail 40.

That is, image-mail creation unit 34 acquires the image ID “snowman.ID”from image select mail 22 (step S111), and reads the image “snowman”corresponding to the acquired image ID.

Next, image-mail creation unit 34 acquires the incorporation informationfrom image select mail 22, and when the acquired incorporationinformation is “1”, reads the message “I'm at the ski field now!” fromthe mail body, and incorporates this message in the use-image “snowman”(step S112=YES; S113; S114). On the other hand, when the acquiredincorporation information is “0”, image-mail creation unit 34 proceedsto step S115 (step S112=NO).

Then, image-mail creation unit 34, in addition to storing an imageeither having or not having a message incorporated in the mail body,stores the transmission source and target addresses of image select mail22 in the mail header (see FIGS. 9A & 9B).

Control unit 36 transmits image mail 40 from transmit/receive unit 35 tomobile telephone 1 b or the like having the transmission target address“ΔΔΔ@def.yz.jp” (step S115). Moreover, when an image ID is not attachedto the mail body at step S110 (i.e. the mail is a text mail), controlunit 36 transmits the text mail from transmit/receive unit 35 to mobiletelephone 1 b or the like (step S110=NO; S120).

After reply mail 39 (step S106), image mail 40 (step S115), or the textmail (step S120) have been transmitted, control unit 36 returns to stepS101.

As described above, because images are specified based on positioninformation, stored in image mail 40, and provided to a transmissiontarget according to the present embodiment, images exhibitingdistinctive features of a position can be provided to the transmissiontarget. In particular, because the position information shows theposition of mobile telephone 1 a, it is possible to have the imagesexhibit distinctive features of the position in which mobile telephone 1a is situated.

Supplement

While the present invention is described above based on the embodiment,the content of the present invention is, of course, not limited to thespecific examples shown in the above embodiment, it being possible, forexample, to implement the following variations.

Variation 1

Although in the above embodiment, position information shows theposition of mobile telephone 1 a, it may show a place other than theposition of mobile telephone 1 a. In this case, for example, a user mayinput position information other than the position of mobile telephone 1a and images corresponding to the inputted position information may bespecified in image provision device 2. According to this structure, itis possible to provide images corresponding to a place removed from theposition of mobile telephone 1 a.

Variation 2

Although in the above embodiment, the position of mobile telephone 1 ais acquired from a global positioning system, position information maybe acquired from a source other than a global positioning system. Forexample, it is possible to specify the position of a base station 3 inthe zone in which mobile telephone 1 a, which transmitted positioninformation mail 21, is situated as the position of mobile telephone 1a. In this case, the position information of the base station in thezone in which mobile telephone 1 a is situated is appended to positioninformation mail 21 transmitted from mobile telephone 1 a, andcandidate-image specification unit 31 in image provision device 2 mayacquire the position information appended to the mail.

Variation 3

Although in the above embodiment, mobile telephone 1 a is used as amobile terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA) may be used insteadof mobile telephone 1 a, and may transmit image mail 40. In this case,the PDA is, for example, connected to a telephone circuit via a PC cardhaving a communications function, and may variously transmit/receivemails 21, 22 and 39.

Variation 4

Although in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10A, a message isincorporated into an area outside of the image area so as to not overlapwith the use-image, the message may be incorporated into the image areaso as to overlap with the use-image. Furthermore, instead of a message,an image provided by a user may be transmitted to image provision device2, and combined with a use-image showing a distinctive feature of aposition. Also the place name or the like of the position informationmay be incorporated into a use-image. Furthermore, a message may bestored in the mail body without being incorporated in a use-image, andthe use-image transmitted as an attachment file. Also, although in theabove embodiment, the use-image is stored in the mail body, it may beattached to the mail body using the MIME format, for example.

Variation 5

Although in the above embodiment, a message to be incorporated in a usemail is transmitted using image select mail 22, it may be transmittedusing position information mail 21, which is the mail initiallytransmitted from mobile telephone 1 a to image provision device 2.

Variation 6

Although in the above embodiment, a plurality of candidate images isspecified and the user selects one image, a plurality of images may beselected. In this case, the plurality of images may be, for example,above/below or to the left/right or one another, or combined so as tooverlap with one another.

Variation 7

Although in the above embodiment, image mail 40 created by image-mailcreation unit 34 in image provision device 2 is transmitted to thetransmission target mobile telephone 1 b, it may initially betransmitted to mobile telephone 1 a for the user to affirm image mail40.

Variation 8

Although in the above embodiment, a plurality of candidate images isspecified and the user selects one image, there may be only onecandidate image. In this case, the candidate image may be transmitted tomobile telephone 1 a so that the user can affirm the image for use, orit may be provided to the address as image mail 40 without the user'saffirmation.

Also, when there is one candidate image, position information attachedto position information mail 21 may be replaced by the image and mail 21then provided to the address.

Variation 9

Although in the above embodiment, mail (position information mail 21,image select mail 22, reply mail 39) is used in the exchange ofinformation between mobile telephone 1 a and image provision device 2,reception/transmission may be conducted in accordance with a protocolarranged independently between mobile telephone 1 a and image provisiondevice 2.

Variation 10

Although in the above embodiment, image provision device 2 is providedin a reception server, it may be provided in a transmission server.Furthermore, image provision device 2 may be made to hold mailaddresses, the various mails 21, 22 and 39 may be transmitted/receivedbetween mobile telephone 1 a and image provision device 2, and imagemail 40 may be transmitted from image provision device 2 to the addressof mobile telephone 1 b.

In this case, the mail address of mobile telephone 1 b may be stored inat least one of position information mail 21 and image select mail 22transmitted from mobile telephone 1 a. As a storage method, the mailaddress may be attached to a mail body using the MIME format. In thiscase, image provision device 2 may be a World Wide Web server.

Variation 11

Although in the above embodiment, thumbnail images are created asinformation relating to candidate images corresponding to positioninformation, and transmitted to mobile telephone 1 a, titles of thecandidate images, for example, may be transmitted to mobile telephone 1a as information relating to the candidate images, or the candidateimages themselves may be transmitted. Also, although thumbnail imagesare created by downscaling images specified by candidate-imagespecification unit 31, they may be created in advance to correspond toimages stored by image storage unit 38.

Variation 12

Although in the above embodiment, mobile telephone 1 a displaysthumbnail images received from image provision device 2 on display unit13 one image at a time, a plurality of thumbnail images may be displayedcollectively on a single screen of display unit 13, and a user mayselect a desired thumbnail image from among these.

Variation 13

Although in the above embodiment, image provision device 2 reads imagesrelating to position information from image storage unit 38, it maycreate images relating to position information. An example of this is adesign of the position itself, based on the position information.Specifically, this may be an image or the like displaying the latitudeand longitude of the position.

In this case, image provision device 2 is not required to include imagestorage unit 38, and mobile telephone 1 a may transmit a mail storingposition information, incorporation information that instructs imageprovision device 2 whether or not to incorporate a message in an image,and, when a message is to be incorporated, the message.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

An image provision device and an image provision system that pertain tothe present invention can be used in providing images that exhibitdistinctive features of a position to a transmission target.

1. An image provision device for providing an image to a persondifferent from a user of a mobile terminal, comprising: a storage unitthat stores a plurality of images relating to two or more of a pluralityof localities and each locality corresponding to a piece of imageinformation that is available for transmission to the mobile terminal; amapping table that corresponds each of the plurality of images with arange of latitude and longitude coordinates, each range of latitude andlongitude coordinates corresponding to a different locality; aposition-information acquiring unit that acquires position informationindicating a range of latitude and longitude coordinates for a localityof the mobile terminal; an image specifying unit that specifies allimages corresponding to the range of latitude and longitude coordinatesfor the locality indicated by the position information, from among theplurality of images stored in the storage unit; an informationtransmitting unit that transmits to the mobile terminal pieces of imageinformation corresponding to the specified images, the transmittedpieces of image information to be used as candidate images from whichthe user selects an image to be provided to the person different fromthe user of the mobile terminal; a reception unit that receives a pieceof image information selected, by the user of the mobile terminal, amongthe transmitted one or more pieces of image information; and a providingunit that provides the person different from the user of the mobileterminal an image corresponding to the piece of image informationreceived by the reception unit, by making the corresponding imageaccessible to the person different from the user of the mobile terminal.2. The image provision device of claim 1, wherein theposition-information acquiring unit acquires the position informationfrom a global positioning system.
 3. The image provision device of claim1, wherein the storing unit stores the plurality of images incorrespondence with positional areas that each show a predeterminedrange including a related one of the plurality of localities, and eachspecified image is an image corresponding to a positional area thatincludes the locality to which the position information relates.
 4. Theimage provision device of claim 1, further comprising: a messageacquiring unit that acquires a message; an incorporating unit thatincorporates the acquired message in an image corresponding to the pieceof information received by the receiving unit; and the providing unitprovides the message-incorporated image to the person different from theuser of the mobile terminal.
 5. The image provision device of claim 1,wherein the providing unit attaches the image to an electronic mail toobtain an image-attached electronic mail, and provides theimage-attached electronic mail to the person different from the user ofthe mobile terminal.
 6. The image provision device of claim 1, whereinthe pieces of image information corresponding to the specified imagesare thumbnail images of the specified images.
 7. The image provisiondevice of claim 1, wherein the pieces of image information correspondingto the specified images are information representing the specified imagewithout use of the images.
 8. A mobile terminal comprising: an imageinformation receiving unit that receives, from an image provisiondevice, one or more pieces of image information, based on a positioninformation indicating a locality of the mobile terminal, eachcorresponding to an image that relates to a range of latitude andlongitude coordinates, the received pieces of images information to beused as candidate images from which a user selects an image to beprovided to a person different from a user of the mobile terminal; areception unit that receives a piece of image information selected, bythe user, among the one or more pieces of image information thatcorrespond to the range of latitude and longitude coordinates; atransmitting unit that transmits the received piece of image informationto the image provision device; and a receiving unit that receives aselected image that corresponds to the transmitted piece of imageinformation and relates to the range of latitude and longitudecoordinates.
 9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the pieces ofimage information relating to the specified images are thumbnail imagesof the specified images.
 10. An image provision device for providing animage to a person different from a user of a mobile terminal comprising:a storage unit that stores a plurality of images, each of the imagesrelating to a range of latitude and longitude coordinates, each range oflatitude and longitude coordinates corresponding to a differentlocality; a position-information acquiring unit that acquires positioninformation indicating a range of latitude and longitude coordinates fora locality of the mobile terminal; an image specifying unit thatspecifies all images corresponding to the range of latitude andlongitude coordinates for the locality indicated by the positioninformation, from among the plurality of images stored in the storageunit; an information transmitting unit that transmits, to the mobileterminal, pieces of image information corresponding to the specifiedimages, the transmitted pieces of information to be used as candidateimages from which the user selects an image to be provided to the persondifferent from the user of the mobile terminal; a reception unit thatreceives a piece of image information selected, by the user of themobile terminal, among the transmitted one or more pieces of imageinformation; and a providing unit that provides to the person differentfrom the user of the mobile terminal an image corresponding to the pieceof image information received by the reception unit, by making thecorresponding image accessible to the person different from the user ofthe mobile terminal.
 11. The image provision device of claim 10, whereinthe position-information acquiring unit acquires the positioninformation from a global positioning system.
 12. The image provisiondevice of claim 10, wherein the storage unit stores the plurality ofimages in correspondence with positional areas that each show apredetermined range including a related one of the plurality oflocalities, and each specified image is an image corresponding to apositional area that includes the locality to which the positioninformation relates.
 13. The image provision device of claim 12, furthercomprising: a message acquiring unit that acquires a message; anincorporating unit that incorporates the acquired message with an imagecorresponding to the piece of information received by the receivingunit; and the providing unit provides the message-incorporated image tothe person different from the user of the mobile terminal.
 14. The imageprovision device of claim 13, wherein the providing unit attaches theimage to an electronic mail to obtain an image-attached electronic mail,and provides the image-attached electronic mail to the person differentfrom the user of the mobile terminal.
 15. The image provision device ofclaim 14, wherein the pieces of image information corresponding to thespecified images are thumbnail images of the specified images.
 16. Theimage provision device of claim 14, wherein the pieces of imageinformation corresponding to the specified images are informationrepresenting the specified image without use of the images.
 17. Theimage provision device of claim 1, wherein the reception unit receivestwo or more pieces of image information selected, by a user of themobile terminal, among the transmitted pieces of image information; andthe providing unit provides to the person different from the user of themobile terminal the two or more images corresponding to the two or moreimage information received by the reception unit.
 18. The imageprovision device of claim 4, wherein the incorporating unit incorporatesthe acquired message in the image corresponding to the piece ofinformation received by the receiving unit by extending the image toinclude an incorporation area and incorporating the acquired message inthe incorporation area.
 19. The image provision device of claim 6further comprising a thumbnail creating unit creating thumbnail imagesof the specified images.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 8 furtherincluding means for selecting the image that relates to the specificposition and storing the image at an image provision device remote fromthe mobile terminal for viewing on a second mobile terminal.
 21. Animage provision device for providing an image to a person different froma user of a mobile terminal, comprising: a storage unit that stores aplurality of images relating to two or more of a plurality of localitiesand each locality corresponding to a piece of image information that isavailable for transmission to the mobile terminal; aposition-information acquiring unit that acquires position informationindicating a locality of the mobile terminal; an image specifying unitthat specifies all images relating to the locality indicated by theposition information, from among the plurality of images stored in thestorage unit; an information transmitting unit that transmits to themobile terminal pieces of image information corresponding to thespecified images, the transmitted pieces of image information to be usedas candidate images from which the user selects an image to be providedto the person different from the user of the mobile terminal; areception unit that receives a piece of image information selected, bythe user of the mobile terminal, among the transmitted one or morepieces of image information; and a providing unit that provides theperson different from the user of the mobile terminal an imagecorresponding to the piece of image information received by thereception unit, by storing the corresponding image onto a specificstorage medium and making the stored image accessible via the Internetto the person different from the user of the mobile terminal.
 22. Thedevice of claim 21 wherein the information transmitting unit transmitsto the mobile terminal pieces of image information corresponding to thespecified images via e-mail over the Internet, and the reception unitreceives, via e-mail over the Internet, the pieces of image informationselected.